University of Houston Libraries Special Collections was honored to be visited by Nikki Van Hightower last month.

Nikki Van Hightower with Vince Lee, archivist for the Carey Shuart Women’s Research Collection | Photo courtesy UH Special Collections

In the course of her career Van Hightower has been Women’s Advocate for the City of Houston, moderator/commentator at KTRH, executive director of the Houston Area Women’s Center, and Harris County treasurer. She has held teaching positions at the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, Lee College, the University of Texas School of Public Health, and the New York Institute of Technology. She has been an outspoken activist in the women’s movement and a leading proponent of equality for women in the city of Houston.

Van Hightower became involved in the women’s movement in the early 1970s. In 1976 she was appointed to the position of women’s advocate by Houston mayor Fred Hofheinz, and was responsible for “coordinating efforts to secure equal rights for women” in Houston. In this capacity she served as the city liaison for the International Women’s Year National Conference, which was held in Houston in 1977, and raised public awareness of women’s issues with her daily presentation of the Women’s Advocate Hour on radio station KTRH. Learn more about Nikki Van Hightower

The Nikki Van Hightower Papers 1967 – 1997 are part of the Carey Shuart Women’s Research Collection at UH Special Collections. The collection documents the career of Van Hightower from the time of her appointment as women’s advocate up to and including her work as Harris County treasurer. It contains material dating from 1967 to 1997, with the bulk of the material dating from 1977 to 1989. Types of material within the collection include correspondence, memoranda, reports, studies, speeches, commentaries, press statements, publications, diaries, photographs and clippings.